Suspects in Anti-Gay Beatings Due in Court Today

No pleas have been entered

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The 10 suspects accused in anti-gay attacks on four men in the Bronx are due in court Thursday.

The men have been charged with crimes including assault, sexual abuse and harassment, all as hate crimes. The suspects were scheduled to appear in Bronx State Supreme Court.

Their families and attorneys say they are innocent. They have not entered pleas.

Authorities say the Oct. 3 attacks were touched off because gang members thought one of their recruits was gay. The 17-year-old recruit was beaten and sodomized, police say. Another 17-year-old also thought to be gay was attacked, and a 30-year-old and his brother were beaten as well.

City officials say it's the worst case of anti-gay violence in recent memory.

Members of a street gang who called themselves the Latin King Goonies targeted a 30-year-old gay man after he apparently had a sexual encounter with one of their recruits, authorities said.

The 17-year-old was beaten and sodomized with the handle of a plunger until he confessed to his involvement with the older man, authorities said. The mob later went after the 30-year-old, luring him to an abandoned apartment they used for partying, where they tied him to a chair and assaulted him, police said.

Another 17-year-old was also attacked because it was believed he too had an encounter with the man, and the older man's brother was also attacked after gang members went to their shared apartment and robbed the place of cash and a TV, police said.

Initially, authorities said nine people participated in the attacks, but later concluded there were 10.

Police say Dominguez has been accused of hitting the first victim with a pipe. No one else is being sought, but it's possible more suspects could surface during the continued investigation, police said.